The Genius of The Sky has dethroned The Queen.
At the conclusion of a thrilling NXT Women’s Championship Match at TakeOver: In Your House, Io Shirai stood tall with the title after defeating Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley.
When the bout began, though, Flair asserted her dominance, using her size advantage to muscle into control of the bout. The Queen tossed Ripley into the plexiglass at ringside before Shirai caught her with a hurricanrana from the ring apron. But back in the ring, Flair once again took control, this time nearly forcing Shirai to submit to a Boston Crab. From there, all three competitors took turns unloading on each other, throwing everything they had at each other in pursuit of the NXT Women’s Championship. However, it seemed Shirai might be one step ahead of the competition.
Flair put a stop to that temporarily, hurling The Genius of The Sky through the window of the In Your House set, then turning her attention to Ripley. The Queen and The Nightmare brawled as the bout progressed, but that gave Shirai time to recover and scale the house. Shirai then took flight, diving off the roof and crashing into her foes on the ground.
But the path to the title would not be easy for Shirai. Ripley nearly had the title wrapped up after connecting with a Riptide off the ropes, only for Shirai to break up the pinfall. Then, The Queen once again introduced a Kendo stick into the fray, cracking it over both of her challenger’s backs. Flair then locked the Figure Eight on Ripley, but Shirai caught The Queen off-guard, crushing Ripley with a moonsault for the three-count and the championship.
Streamers and confetti rained down from the ceiling in celebration of the new champion. It may have been a party for Shirai on this night, but the true test lies ahead for The Genius of The Sky, as she tries to remain NXT Women’s Champion.